FMF
Should Guillermo Ochoa continue play for Mexico? Who are the other options for Jaime Lozano?
As Mexico head into their international games, the statistics of the veteran goalkeeper put him in an interesting position.
Guillermo Ochoa does right in thinking that he can play a part in what would be his sixth World Cup, when Mexico take part in the 2026 edition of the tournament on home soil, as his numbers still show him to be way ahead of his competitors for the number one spot.
The five-time World Cup appearance holder, a staple at the event in modern times, is still putting out goalkeeping statistics that back him against his younger competitors for a place in the starting XI of the Mexican National Team. Players such as Alfredo Talavera, Carlos Acevedo, Luis Malagón and Antonio Rodríguez, however good they may be, cannot compete with ‘Memo’.
Which goalkeeper deserves to play for Mexico?
Jaime Lozano has a tough decision to make as he guides Mexico towards the huge challenge of a World Cup, as the shouts from afar - and potentially a big number of them - want to see a generational change between the sticks. However, given the lack of a dip in form for Memo, it makes sense to keep the player playing while he’s in form and simply wait for the time to come naturally.
The statistics are simple to analyse in the sense that more than one conclusion simply cannot be drawn: Alfredo Talavera, who is 40-years-old, has played over 100 games less than Ochoa for El Tri, simply because the performances that he has put in over the years have never warranted a change of long-term goalkeeper.
Even so, when you take a look at Ochoa, his numbers put him way ahead of Talavera: the Salernitana stopper is already on 144 games in the green shirt of Mexico, with his performances coming in World Cups, Gold Cups, qualifiers, Confederation Cups, Copa América, Nations League and friendly games. Talavera, for his part, has just 40 games experience.
Who are the other options for the Mexico goalkeeper?
And then we move down the list to Rodolfo Cota, with 8, or the 6 games that Carlos Acevedo has played; we can go further and see that Luis Malagón has 3 and Antonio Rodríguez has just one.
Whether a slow, calm generational change is already in Jaime Lozano’s thinking, or instead a rapid snap of the bone to break the norm and go for an all-new lineup for the World Cup preparation, the decision will be a tough one for Ochoa and for all of Mexico.
“The kids have to come knocking on the door, as happened with myself”, Ochoa said, and maybe he was right.
